Author's Note: Please be aware that, though I've posted these parts separately on other sites, there is no easy way to denote fics in the same universe on this site other than to clutter up the summary so I made the decision to post them all here. This means that some will be about Athos/d'Artagnan, others will be about Aramis/Porthos, and others still might reference other pairings. I will clearly label which pairings feature in each part so you can skip it if you like.

Benediction - Aramis/Porthos

Aramis has always loved women. He loves the taste of them, the smell of them, and the feel of them. He loves the softness of their skin, the delicate swell of their hips, and the shallow dip that curves against their collarbone.

He loves the way they curl into his touch, open and wet, slippery against his fingers. He loves the way they arch and writhe. The way they push and pull against him, sometimes coy, sometimes playful, and always so different from one another.

He loves them all, every one, and it is for this reason alone that he is astounded, astonished, and amazed when his missing mark – his Soul Mark; an answered benediction from an Almighty who is all-knowing and all-seeing – flowers late in his life and upon his skin in harsh, slanted lines that are as bold as a knife-thrust and as permanent as a bullet-scar.

'Porthos', it reads, and Porthos it shall be. In his heart and in his mind, until such a day that they meet and these ladies, these beauties of God's creation, are a warm memory for a cold night and nothing more or less than that. For who is he to deny the will of the most kind, most caring God?